Endemic to Florida, Carphephorus corymbosus grows as a long-lived herb in open pine flatwoods, sandhills, and dry prairies. Plants send up one to several wiry stems about 1.5–3 ft tall from a basal rosette and flower most reliably in sites that experience periodic fire, a management feature of its native longleaf-pine landscapes; after a burn, it commonly blooms in profusion the following season.
Inflorescences form broad corymbs composed only of discoid heads—there are no ray florets—each head roughly ⅜–½ in wide and packed with many tubular florets whose exserted styles create a fine, paintbrush-like texture. Heads arise on dark, glandular branchlets, and unopened buds are deep purple; basal leaves typically wither by peak bloom, leaving the tall flowering stalks as the most visible feature. Flowering in Florida is usually September–November, followed by slender, one-seeded fruits topped with a pappus that aids wind dispersal. Photographed in Florida.